Iraqi forces have fully liberated the largest residential neighbourhood in eastern Mosul after a two-day battle that saw the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL) sustaining heavy losses, the Ninawa Operations Command said Friday (December 9th).

"Iraqi forces have liberated al-Zohour neighbourhood and raised the Iraqi flag on its buildings," Ninawa Operations commander Nejim Edin Karim al-Jubury told Diyaruna.

"The neighbourhood is the largest in the eastern side of Mosul," he said. "The army, police and Counter-Terrorism Service, supported by the international coalition, attacked ISIL pockets from three pivots there."

"The liberation of the neighbourhood was completed Thursday evening, and our forces started fortifying their new positions and providing aid to residents there," he added.

The number of families who have fled areas under ISIL's control in Mosul to displacement camps set up by the government and the UN has risen to 94,000, Iraq’s Ministry of Migration and Displacement said Thursday (December 8th).

The ministry and international organisations continue to provide urgent assistance to them, the ministry said, noting that more camps are being set up to deal with the influx of displaced people.